The present invention relates to a device or an apparatus, as well as a method for stranding long winding materials, in particular metal winding materials, such as wires, lacings, cables as well as insulated conductors, such as small wires or the like.
A complete assembly for stranding long winding materials, which includes an apparatus for stranding long winding materials as well as a method for stranding long winding materials making use of the apparatus, is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,427,432 B1.
The total assembly of US '432 is a so-called “lyre-type horizontal pairing machine”, abbreviated “PHL”, and comprises a horizontally arranged rotary flyer-type payout system with a rotary flyer. A payout system is arranged within the body supporting the rotary flyer and is decoupled from the rotation of the flyer and serves for tangential payout of a first strand.
A second strand is supplied by a second payout system, which is arranged in drawing direction before the rotary flyer payout system and is guided over the rotary flyer of the flyer-type payout system.
At the end of the flyer-type payout system, a device is arranged for stranding the first and second strands. It is a stranding drum, which is a functionally important element for the assembly of the two individual strands.
This stranding drum, a cylindrical rotary body, comprises a first passage for guiding the first wire or strand through the stranding drum and a second passage for guiding the second wire or strand through the stranding drum.
The first passage interconnects a first central inlet on the inlet end side of the stranding drum with a first eccentric or offset outlet of the outlet end side of the stranding drum. The second passage interconnects a second offset inlet on the inlet end side of the stranding drum with a second, also offset outlet on the outlet end side of the stranding drum.
After passing through the stranding drum, the first and second wires are stranded together at a stranding point.
A drawback of the “PHL” system appears to be that both of the individual wires or strands must pass the entire length of the stranding drum, due to the constructive configuration of the “PHL”. This requires that the stranding drum on the whole can only be arranged in drawing direction following the rotary flyer-type payout system. This would oppose a general need for a compact form of the entire stranding assembly.
A further drawback of the “PHL” system, as described in the embodiment, in particular for the configuration of the stranding drum, can only operate as an assembly for stranding two wires. An operation of the rotary flyer payout system as a back twisting device for individual wires appears only possible for “PHL” with correspondingly complicated re-fitting of the “PHL”. The “PHL” of US '432 therefore appears to be less flexible.
The object of the present invention is therefore to provide an apparatus as well as a method for stranding long winding materials, which allows a more compact construction of the entire stranding assembly as well as allowing a stranding assembly which is more flexible in use.